This campaign has gone live on the day of the 130th year anniversary of the death of one of the founding members of the Royal Water Colour Society. It was on the 15th March 1887 That William Collingwood Smith passed away. It is also 201 years, 5 months and 5 days since his birth. William Collingwood Smith his wife Louisa Smith (Nee Triquet) and son William Harding Collingwood Smith share a burial plot in West Norwood Cemetery, London.
The grave has unfortunately fallen into disrepair over the past century. The headstone has toppled over and is lying alongside the grave. This project will hopefully raise enough funds to honour their memory and preserve the heritage of this family of artists. Permission to have the grave restored by a professional stone mason has been granted by West Norwood Cemetery.
J. DAY & SON LTD, of Bridge Works, Station Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts CM23 3BJ will carry out the works should the respective targets be reached.
Good news is that even though a full restoration would be ideal, should we fall short of the funding target, some of the more critical works will be able to be carried out without the full funding target being reached, for example anchoring and setting the grave stone into an upright position. If milestones are not reached after one year, then donated funds that have not been spent on the project will be fully refunded back to contributors. There is no minimum donation and the smallest of donations of 1 unit of your currency would be welcomed. This site would love to help advertise the websites of any contributors on the funding page for free and so please send a note with your website details.
Funding milestones for this project are as follows (Prices include VAT) :
1) Ownership of the plot transferred and permission for professional works granted : £90 ACHIEVED
2) Remove & replace : £216
3) Dismatle, drill & dowel: £66
4) New foundation & anchor : £144
5) Clean: £144
6) Tap back and repair existing inscription: £90
7) Extra inscription for their Son : An additional inscription to be added to the memorial stone to include William and Louisa's son William Harding Collingwood Smith who was also a respected artist. This inscription will read (Space on the grave stone permitting) : "Also their son William Harding Collingwood Smith Artist who died 9th January 1922 aged 74".
Thank you for taking the time to read about this campaign and if you donated thank you so much for your kind generosity. Please do forward this website URL on to any friends or colleagues who may find it of interest.